Havana/The Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo observatories in Cuba reported this Tuesday the murder of Miriela Mesa Hernández, 45, in Ciego de Ávila. The NGOs reported that the case was registered “after days of harassment that were ignored.”
According to the report, the attack against the woman, a 45-year-old teacher from the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes primary school, occurred on Sunday, November 2, in the town of Falla, in the municipality of Chambas.
According to the testimonies collected by the organizations and the statements of Mesa Hernández’s niece, Yoania González Castillo, the crime occurred between 6 and 7:30 p.m. in a place known to neighbors as the Parque de las Lies. The attacker, identified as Osvany Noa, the woman’s ex-partner, attacked her, stole her mobile phone and a bicycle, and then fled the scene. Although the organizations do not point it out, in a post This Monday, activist Guillermo Rodríguez Sánchez explained that the murder would have occurred in front of Mesa Hernández’s daughter, a six-year-old girl.
The couple had separated four months ago, and since then he had constantly harassed her through Facebook and in public.
In that publication, it was also reported that family and friends claim that the couple had separated four months ago, and that since then he had constantly harassed her through Facebook and in public.
Neighbors also indicated that, days before the crime, Osvany Noa had broken into a home throwing stones and showing a knife while threatening Miriela Mesa with the message: “This is for you.”
The observatories expressed that the feminicide leaves a community “deeply shocked” by the loss of a woman described as “noble, cheerful and dedicated to teaching.”
In addition, they highlighted that this case “reveals once again the absence of effective protection mechanisms against sexist violence in Cuba. Despite the history of harassment, threats and public complaints, no preventive measures were adopted that could have prevented the crime.”
With this new case, the list of deaths due to gender violence on the Island stands at 33 – according to the count of 14ymedio–, seven of which, almost a quarter, were recorded only in August.
Last year, this newspaper counted 52 femicides based on independent records
Last year, this diary counted 52 femicides from independent records. According to figures from the Cuban Observatory on Gender Equality, last year a total of 76 gender-related murders were tried in the country, in which the victims were over 15 years old. The agency does not specify the dates the crimes were committed, but it is most likely that they occurred in 2023 and 2024.
Furthermore, according to independent counts, from 2019 until this Tuesday, the Alas Tensas and Yo Sí Te Creo observatories in Cuba have documented 303 murders due to sexist violence on the Island, “a figure that represents only an under-reporting of gender violence” in the country.
